Germany expects ‘wave’ of new Eurotank partners after September conference

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  25 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Guerre électronique : Le ministère des Armées lance la réalisation du programme ARCHANGE

  PAR LAURENT LAGNEAU En février 2018, la ministre des Armées, Florence Parly, avait annoncé le lancement du programme « CUGE » pour « Capacité universelle de guerre électronique », destiné à remplacer les deux avions C-160 Gabriel actuellement en service au sein de l'Escadron électronique aéroporté 00.054 « Dunkerque ». Il était question d'équiper non pas deux mais trois avions avec cette nouvelle charge de guerre électronique. La seule indication donnée était qu'ils appartiendraient à la gamme « Falcon » de Dassault Aviation. Il fallut attendre le dernier salon de l'aéronautique et de l'espace du Bourget pour apprendre qu'il s'agirait de trois Falcon 8X, capables de franchir la distance de 6.450 nautiques [11.945 km] et de voler à la vitesse maximale de Mach 0,9 à l'altitude de 51.000 pieds [15.545 m]. Le tout en étant 30% plus « éco-efficient » que les autres appareils de mpeme catégorie. Restait alors à lancer le développement et l'acquisition de ces trois Falcon 8X adaptés à recevoir cette capacité universelle de guerre électronique. Ce qui vient d'être fait, à l'issue d'un comité ministériel d'investissement réuni le 18 novembre. « Le renseignement est indispensable à nos opérations militaires. Fruit de 10 ans d'études, le programme ARCHANGE équipera l'armée de l'air dès 2025. Sa mission : la guerre électronique, soit l'interception d'émissions radio et radar », a commenté Mme Parly, via Twitter. Pour rappel, ARCHANGE signifie « Avions de Renseignement à CHArge utile de Nouvelle GEnération. » « Résultat de dix années d'études sur des technologies de pointe, l'ensemble des capteurs constituant la charge utile sera développé par Thales. Cette charge utile, basée sur des technologies innovantes [antennes multi-polarisation, intelligence artificielle pour améliorer les traitements automatiques], permettra de détecter et d'analyser les signaux radar et de communication gr'ce à des capteurs intégrés sur un avion d'affaire Falcon 8X construit par Dassault Aviation », a expliqué le ministère des Armées. Outre la livraison des trois Falcon 8X « ARCHANGE », il est prévu de mettre en place une plateforme d'entraînement pour leurs futurs équipages sur la base aérienne d'Évreux. « Les systèmes ARCHANGE accroîtront significativement les capacités de renseignement électromagnétique aéroporté français et contribueront à l'effort particulier sur la fonction stratégique ‘connaissance et anticipation', gage de l'autonomie de décision de la France et de sa supériorité en opération », fait encore valoir le ministère des Armées. Mis en service il y a maintenant 30 ans, le remplacement des deux C-160 Gabriel est une priorité, d'autant plus que la flotte de Transall C-160 ne tardera pas à s'éteindre. Ces appareils sont essentiels pour le renseignement militaire français dans la mesure ils permettent de collecter et d'analyser des signaux électromagnétiques, et donc de pouvoir évaluer les forces d'un adversaire et d'adapter, par exemple, les contre-mesures électroniques à ses moyens de protection. http://www.opex360.com/2019/11/22/guerre-electronique-le-ministere-des-armees-lance-la-realisation-du-programme-archange/

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  31 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  GAO backs use of commercial satellites to host military payloads

  by Sandra Erwin “Using hosted payloads may help facilitate a proliferation of payloads on orbit, making it more difficult for an adversary to defeat a capability." WASHINGTON — The Pentagon should use commercial satellites as host platforms for military sensors and communications packages, says a new Government Accountability Office report released on Monday. GAO auditors investigated the pros and cons of “hosted payloads” and agreed with what private satellite operators have been saying for years: The military can save money and get capabilities on-orbit faster by hitching rides on commercial satellites. The industry has been building huge spacecraft that have extra carrying capacity, and hosting national security payloads is viewed as a profitable business that also helps the military fill a need. The report says there are national security benefits to deploying military payloads on commercial satellites. “Using hosted payloads may also help facilitate a proliferation of payloads on orbit, making it more difficult for an adversary to defeat a capability.” Since 2009, DoD has used three commercially hosted payloads, with three more missions planned or underway through 2022. In 2011, the Air Force created a Hosted Payload Office to provide expertise and other tools to facilitate matching government payloads with commercial hosts. GAO found that defense programs using hosted payloads are not required and generally do not provide cost and technical data, or lessons learned, to the Hosted Payload Office. Having that information would “better position DoD to make informed decisions when considering acquisition approaches for upcoming space system designs.” The Pentagon has not been too keen on hosted payloads for several reasons, GAO noted. There is a perception among some defense officials that matching government payloads to commercial satellites is too difficult. Another concern is that DoD's knowledge on using hosted payloads is “fragmented, in part because programs are not required to share information.” DoD officials who spoke with GAO identified “logistical challenges to matching government payloads with any given commercial host satellite.” For example, they cited size, weight and power constraints as barriers to using hosted payloads. Some individual DoD offices have realized cost and schedule benefits, but “DoD as a whole has limited information on costs and benefits of hosted payloads,” said the report. Officials at the Office of the Secretary of Defense told GAO that “matching requirements between government payloads and commercial satellites is typically too difficult for programs to overcome.” DoD's Hosted Payload Office is “developing tools designed to help address these challenges,” said the report. Defense officials also argued that budget and planning processes are a hurdle. “This can complicate alignment with commercial timelines because the development of a government sensor would need to be underway well in advance of a decision to fund a commercially hosted payload approach.” Officials told GAO that it is possible to align government and commercial timelines. For example, the Missile Defense Agency adopted the commercial host's schedule to ensure its Space Based Kill Assessment payload was ready for integration and launch without delaying the host satellite or missing its ride to space. Similarly, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has been able to align acquisition and development schedules with the commercial host. In its written comments in the report, DoD concurred with GAO's recommendations and noted that the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center had initiated a major reorganization and that under the new organization, the Hosted Payload Office had changed and may not be the appropriate office for centralizing DoD-wide hosted payload knowledge. Language in the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act directs the Pentagon to seize oversight of military investments in hosted payloads. https://spacenews.com/gao-backs-use-of-commercial-satellites-to-host-military-payloads/

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  7 août 2018 | International, Terrestre

  Stealthier Tanks Are On The Way

  BY JOHN WATTS Several tech trends will make tomorrow's tanks harder to spot — and that may have strategic implications. Truly game-changing technology does not develop in isolation. It results from the convergence of multiple trends and usually the combination of multiple technologies. For example, today's social-media platforms did not arise from internet connectivity alone. Rather, they evolved iteratively over multiple generations of technological development, incorporating the miniaturization of digital cameras, the increase in portable computing power of smartphones, and advances in cellular connectivity. In that context, a cluster of technological trends may be converging to produce a potentially transformative battlefield capability: “stealth tanks.” This concept is not new and there is no certainty that these new technological developments will fully scale or prove operationally effective. But as these technologies develop they hint at possibilities that warrant serious discussion about their potential application to armored vehicles, as well as their operational and politico-strategic implications. By “stealth,” we do not mean invisibility. Rather, it is a collection of technologies designed to reduce an object's observable signature, thereby making detection more difficult. Even if temporary or incomplete, stealth provides a significant tactical advantage. Aircraft achieve stealth through a decreased radar cross section which incredibly complicates detection. Full Article: https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2018/08/stealthier-tanks/150276/